August 20, 2025 • 18 mins
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Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: host of "Reasonably Happy," comedian and author Paul Ollinger!
Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask AI” and audio rebuses.
Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
"The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs" is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and is a co-production with Neuhaus Ideas.
Our executive producers are Neely Lohmann and Adam Neuhaus of Neuhaus Ideas, and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts.
The show is produced by Jody Avirgan and Brittani Brown of Roulette Productions.
Our Chief Puzzle Officer is Greg Pliska. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello puzzlers. Before we start puzzling today, I wanted to
let you know we are cooking up some big plans
for the puzzler community, and in order to ensure that
it's what you want, we need your input. So we've
put together a short survey, which you can find in
the show notes. It's really quick, just three minutes, but
(00:22):
it will be a huge help in letting us know
what you want so that we can deliver just that.
Thank you, Hello puzzlers. I thought we could start with
a quick puzzle. This is an elemental puzzle, meaning it's
about the elements in the periodic table. Specifically, it's about
(00:43):
rearranging the elements or the letters of those elements. So
if you take the element neon, that is an anagram
of the word none none. So here's my challenge. Can
you tell me which elements are anagrams of the following
words knit as in nitpick and I T deal d
(01:03):
e A l Noir as in film Noir, Livers, Live
l I v r e r s and grown. The
answer and more puzzling goodness after the break hell No puzzlers,
Welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast. The Extra Strength ibuprofen
(01:27):
for your aching puzzle elbow. I'm your host, Adrian Jacobs,
and I'm here, of course, which he puzzled Offter Greg
plus Scott Greg. Before the break, I gave some words
that are anagrams of elements on the periodic table. Should
we just go down them one by one?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yes? Go ahead. I'm right. You know.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I thought you were gonna ask us to just come
up with elements that could be anagram to other things,
and I was I was like, nitrogen, I've got to
be able to do something with that, but go do
it your way.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's much I do have a couple at the end
that are for uh, you know, X and puzzling. Yes,
knit as in knitting, that's right, dal d e a
l that would be lead correct, and noir as in
phil noir.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
That would be iron ironn exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Livers.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Livers are made of silver and grown, which I wrote
g r O w N and I thought, Aja, you're
you're wrong. That doesn't a thing. No, it's g r
o a n anagrams to are gone.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
You got it. That is interesting. I should have clarified
up top, but that makes it a little more difficult.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Uh, how about Adorn. That's another one that's Raydon exactly.
Now we get into two that are just crazy and obscure.
In Brew, I m b r u e which means rubium.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
No erbium, Yes, erbium. Three elements named for the same
town in Sweden.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
What that's What are the other two?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
The turbium, it turbium, turbium, and erbium are all named
for the town that I can't I think is something
that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So is it like all chemistry nerds, it's like the mecca.
It's like everyone goes there.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's where all yea, all these were discovered. It be
is the village in Sweden which is where these these
various they're related elements and they were all found there.
Oh four of them urbium, turbium, it, trium, and iturbium.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Man, I feel they could have gotten a little bit
more creative up with stuff anyway, all right, last one
is nineteens. Nineteens is a uh nineteens.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
That's one of the newer elements.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Oh wait, that's not true. I'm just double checking it.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
That's not that. Yeah, to be an anagram of Tennessee,
you need another.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
S nineteens, But you got it. Tennessee, not named for
a Swedish town. I issue, well, well done, Greg. You
know your periodic table?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Do you know it?
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I do not have a great segue for our guest,
except that he is a man whose comedy is solid gold,
and he is mostly made of carbon I think uh.
And that is the comedian and host of the podcast
Reasonably Happy, Paul Olinger.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Welcome, Paul, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I am elementally happy to be here. I don't know
what that means, but you know.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, we'll take it. Well, we are delighted to have
you back. We have more to talk about, but we
also have more to puzzle about, and for today we
have Chief Puzzle Officer. Greg Puliska has cooked something up
to you for you. So I'm going to hand it
over to Craig.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Bring it on, Chief Puzzle off.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Ready to go, Paul, All right, well this is you know,
you're a man of many interests. You talk about a
lot of subjects, so this is a puzzle about even
more subjects, but all tailored specifically for you. I'm going
to take words and phrases that have p A L
or pol in them and change those so that they
sound like Paul, and they become your own.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
So, for example, if you were a tiny swimming creature
that grew up to be a frog, you would be
a tad.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Pol Okay, wait, that's because I was thinking polly wag.
Isn't pollwag something?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Pollywog is another name for polywog.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Is another name for a pole.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I don't even know what is a pollywog.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I think they're just two. I think they're just synonyms
tadpole and polya.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Al Right, well I'll look that up because.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I have you know, is another name for a tadpole?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I won't be consulting chat ept for these here.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
They should all be reasonably familiar, you know, P A, L,
P L. Words that haven't been in that we've just
changed to be about you. So for okay, so let's
dive in. If you married several people at once, that would.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Be this my wife thrown me off the.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Roof, exactly fair, all of them, I would be.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I would be a polygamist.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Polygamist, yes, practicing polygamy exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You get the idea.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Now, this is the study of the Olinger fossils from
prehistoric times.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
H anthrow Paul g Oh that's good. I like that.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I was thinking of a different one. I was thinking
of polyantology.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
What would oh is that what Ross was on Friends
a paleontologist exactly?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Yeah, I know it's funny.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
I know dozens of paleontologists in New York City. Really
interesting choice of careers for Ross.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, the street, you can't you can't go down the
street without bumping into another Paleand.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Once again, I have a very clear point of view
on pop culture from the mid nineteen nineties, So it's perfect, perfect,
all right.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
There are several countries that you could take over and rename.
This is the one that's in the Himalayas.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Nay Paul exactly, name.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Paul capital of Katmandu. This is the country that's in Europe. Yeah, yeah,
it becomes Poland.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And one of the cultural exports of Pauland, of course,
is the accordion based musical style that weird Al Yankovic
grew up with, the Paulka Paulka exactly, A little Polka Paulka. Okay, Now,
if you do too much writing, this is the injury
you're going to end up with.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Oh, car Paul tunnelsyn.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Carpo exactly, I've got a whole future of just it's
all about you. Apparently when Bill Maher, when Bill Maher
retires and you take over his show, this will be.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
The new title.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Oh, that show will be paulically incorrect, Yes, politically incorrect.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Politically incorrect, and maybe that'll happen. That's a I could imagine.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I'd watch it.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I would watch it, Yes, sure, i'd be I'd be
honored to. You can step into those well worn shoes,
right all right.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
When you take selfies, you prefer to use this old
style camera that spits out the photos on self developing.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Film, a hooloid polaroid exactly, speaking of the nineteen nineties.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Actually it's older than that, that's what seventies.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah, yeah, Although do your kids have polaroids?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Are they into polar They.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Had, they had some kind of They've gone through about
a dozen cameras each in their life, and they had
one at one point that that spit out.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
A polarid, a polaroid like photo.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
They didn't like that they couldn't edit it and share
it on you know, right snapchat.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
So what good is this?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
All right, A couple more of these, if you had
white fur and eight fish and lived in the Arctic.
You would be this.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
A Viking, I would be divorce, a pescatarian Viking.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I would be a polar beard.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Exactly, very good. This is the large hill in Athens
with ancient buildings all dedicated to.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
You, the acropolis.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Yes, exactly, exactly, nice, exactly. And if you were a
short guy on a horse who became Emperor of France, you.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Would be no Pallia Napoleon.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yes, although I just wanted for Napoleon fans out there,
that is probably a myth.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
That he was short.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
That was apparently propaganda from the British. Uh, but it
is still debated.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That was effective propaganda.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Man that I know, he's got a complex named after him.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
All Right, A couple more here. This is the European
law enforcement agency that you run.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Oh uh all Star.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
No, No, that Paul is at the end of it.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Actually, oh, Metro Paul.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Uh bigger than that. This is This shows up in
like old you know spy movie.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Well, who puts out red notices?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Bill Browder was on my show, yes, and he wrote
a book called Red Notice, which is probably the most
wonderful book that I've in the past decade.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
With the exception of the three uh A books in
that time, the five books I've read. You are correct.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
This is who put pulls out the red notices.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Interesting.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna admit, I'm gonna I'm gonna
claim ignorance on this.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Its long name is the International Criminal Police Organization.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Inter What is metro paul? That's something else interpol.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Okay, yeah, metropol is like a bar in France or something.
It's going to go to the metrocs.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
People still do that, and I never mind.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
It's okay, it's a podcast. No one could see what
you did, was raising?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
All right?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
The last one your birthstone if you had been born
in October, oh boy, which of course we would rename
Ollinger Tober. But in the meantime, wither Tober birthstone form?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
What with the birth aquamarine? Uh roop. It's a four
letter word.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Originally, I know it because it shows up across where
it's a lot. That's how I know it.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Does he an opal is iridescent? What does irides mean?
I know it's got the the flakes in it or whatever.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Irides I think it has multiple colors, that is what
I remember. Yeah, it's it's a little rainbow color.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
That's surely you were going to ask me. The Cambodian dictator.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Paul Pott, Well, we didn't want to insult you, but
you can insult yourself, I called.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Him, speaking theoretically.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, well, Paul or Poul, you did wonderfully, as thank
you expected before we let you go. In our book
that Greg and I put out called The Puzzler, I
talk about how I see comedy as sort of a puzzle.
Like you say a joke and it takes a second
(13:28):
to solve the joke, and that's where the humor comes from.
Do you see any linkage?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I think so.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I think you know a lot of times when you
write ideas down, they're kind of like pieces of a
of a jigsaw puzzle, and you might not know where
that piece goes. You just know that it's it's something
about how your brain works, and it might be years
until you find its place in a joke or not.
(13:57):
And and you can look at the hundreds of pages
of notes that I've made over the years as a
big box of random jigsaw pieces. Oh yeah, that you're
just waiting to find where they fit and how it
all comes together.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And so yeah, I see the connection very logically.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
I also think it's interesting when I'm not a stand
up comic, but I've talked to comics and the puzzle
of why you do the exact same set a hundred
times you get huge laughs and then one time it
is silence. So is what is going on with the bombing?
Why does it happen?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
What is going on with the bombing? I need to know.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Every comedy show is a living breathing thing. Although I've
done some dead shows too, but you know, it is
a living, breathing combination of what am I infinite number
of variables that will never be repeated, the unique combination
(15:07):
of the people in the room, the temperature in the room,
the crackling on the microphone, the siren that goes that
goes down the street that you can hear in the room,
all these factors, what happened that day in the news,
All those factors will never be repeated again, and so
(15:31):
and so there are potentially an infinite number of directions
that a comedy routine or show can go. And I
think that's what's interesting about, you know, crowd work. I
don't do a lot of crowd work, and I sort
of don't think that the crowd work trend on social
media is necessarily positive for comedy as a whole. But
(15:56):
when you do crowd work, that interaction with these people
can never be repeated, and so it makes for a unique,
non duplicatable experience that people either experienced or they didn't experience.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Well, I love it, very interesting, and I will say
I believe then this all of the variables on this
podcast lined up because you were a delightful guest and
we were more than reasonably happy to have you. So
thank you, Paul.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
It's my pleasure. I'm honored to be a part of it.
I appreciate being here.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Oh I'm Greg. I almost forgot. Do you have an
extra credit for the folks at home?
Speaker 4 (16:38):
I do?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I have.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I actually have two extra credits.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I'm going to do right. The first one is the
same puzzle we just did with Paul, which is if
Paul had the made up title REGNEO Ollinger, that's our
e G N I L L O Ollinger, that would
be this. That's the clue for those and is an
(17:01):
example of this. And I have an extra credit based
upon the opening puzzle you use. I realize this is
an element. This is an element that is not used
in making your mobile device, but it is something that
comes out of it when you anagram it. Oh, okay,
element that is not actually used in making it or
(17:23):
not in the composition of it.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
It might be used in.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
The process of making it, but it becomes something that
comes out of it.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
All right, I don't know the answer. I might have
to use my iPhone to try to figure it out.
But in the meantime, join us tomorrow for the answer,
and of course we'll be here tomorrow for more puzzling
puzzles that will puzzle you sudglingly.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
Hey, puzzlers, it's Greg pliska GP, your Chief Puzzle Officer
CPO up from the Puzzle Lab pl with the extra
credit answer from our last episode l E. We played
a PO game with Paul Ollinger where every answer is
a famous person's two initials clude in our typical fashion
(18:12):
with the name and then the two initials. So example,
we had the Paul Olinger.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
PO or post office.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
And here's your extra credit clue.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
This is the Jetta j E T t A owned
by Serena's sister, Serena's tennis playing sister, and that of
course is Venus Williams, is VW VW for Venus Williams
and of course for Volkswagen.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Thanks for playing with us, whatever you're driving, and we
look forward to playing more puzzles with you next time.
Hello puzzlers. Before we start puzzling today, I wanted to
let you know we are cooking up some big plans
for the puzzler community, and in order to ensure that
it's what you want, we need your input. So we've
put together a short survey, which you can find in
the show notes. It's really quick, just three minutes, but
(00:22):
it will be a huge help in letting us know
what you want so that we can deliver just that.
Thank you, Hello puzzlers. I thought we could start with
a quick puzzle. This is an elemental puzzle, meaning it's
about the elements in the periodic table. Specifically, it's about
(00:43):
rearranging the elements or the letters of those elements. So
if you take the element neon, that is an anagram
of the word none none. So here's my challenge. Can
you tell me which elements are anagrams of the following
words knit as in nitpick and I T deal d
(01:03):
e A l Noir as in film Noir, Livers, Live
l I v r e r s and grown. The
answer and more puzzling goodness after the break hell No puzzlers,
Welcome back to the Puzzler Podcast. The Extra Strength ibuprofen
(01:27):
for your aching puzzle elbow. I'm your host, Adrian Jacobs,
and I'm here, of course, which he puzzled Offter Greg
plus Scott Greg. Before the break, I gave some words
that are anagrams of elements on the periodic table. Should
we just go down them one by one?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yes? Go ahead. I'm right. You know.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
I thought you were gonna ask us to just come
up with elements that could be anagram to other things,
and I was I was like, nitrogen, I've got to
be able to do something with that, but go do
it your way.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's much I do have a couple at the end
that are for uh, you know, X and puzzling. Yes,
knit as in knitting, that's right, dal d e a
l that would be lead correct, and noir as in
phil noir.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
That would be iron ironn exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Livers.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Livers are made of silver and grown, which I wrote
g r O w N and I thought, Aja, you're
you're wrong. That doesn't a thing. No, it's g r
o a n anagrams to are gone.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
You got it. That is interesting. I should have clarified
up top, but that makes it a little more difficult.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Uh, how about Adorn. That's another one that's Raydon exactly.
Now we get into two that are just crazy and obscure.
In Brew, I m b r u e which means rubium.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
No erbium, Yes, erbium. Three elements named for the same
town in Sweden.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
What that's What are the other two?
Speaker 3 (03:04):
The turbium, it turbium, turbium, and erbium are all named
for the town that I can't I think is something
that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
So is it like all chemistry nerds, it's like the mecca.
It's like everyone goes there.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
It's where all yea, all these were discovered. It be
is the village in Sweden which is where these these
various they're related elements and they were all found there.
Oh four of them urbium, turbium, it, trium, and iturbium.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Man, I feel they could have gotten a little bit
more creative up with stuff anyway, all right, last one
is nineteens. Nineteens is a uh nineteens.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
That's one of the newer elements.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Oh wait, that's not true. I'm just double checking it.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
That's not that. Yeah, to be an anagram of Tennessee,
you need another.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
S nineteens, But you got it. Tennessee, not named for
a Swedish town. I issue, well, well done, Greg. You
know your periodic table?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Do you know it?
Speaker 1 (04:13):
I do not have a great segue for our guest,
except that he is a man whose comedy is solid gold,
and he is mostly made of carbon I think uh.
And that is the comedian and host of the podcast
Reasonably Happy, Paul Olinger.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Welcome, Paul, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I am elementally happy to be here. I don't know
what that means, but you know.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
Yeah, we'll take it. Well, we are delighted to have
you back. We have more to talk about, but we
also have more to puzzle about, and for today we
have Chief Puzzle Officer. Greg Puliska has cooked something up
to you for you. So I'm going to hand it
over to Craig.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Bring it on, Chief Puzzle off.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Ready to go, Paul, All right, well this is you know,
you're a man of many interests. You talk about a
lot of subjects, so this is a puzzle about even
more subjects, but all tailored specifically for you. I'm going
to take words and phrases that have p A L
or pol in them and change those so that they
sound like Paul, and they become your own.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
So, for example, if you were a tiny swimming creature
that grew up to be a frog, you would be
a tad.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Pol Okay, wait, that's because I was thinking polly wag.
Isn't pollwag something?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Pollywog is another name for polywog.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Is another name for a pole.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
I don't even know what is a pollywog.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
I think they're just two. I think they're just synonyms
tadpole and polya.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Al Right, well I'll look that up because.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I have you know, is another name for a tadpole?
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I won't be consulting chat ept for these here.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
They should all be reasonably familiar, you know, P A, L,
P L. Words that haven't been in that we've just
changed to be about you. So for okay, so let's
dive in. If you married several people at once, that would.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Be this my wife thrown me off the.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Roof, exactly fair, all of them, I would be.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I would be a polygamist.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Polygamist, yes, practicing polygamy exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
You get the idea.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Now, this is the study of the Olinger fossils from
prehistoric times.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
H anthrow Paul g Oh that's good. I like that.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I was thinking of a different one. I was thinking
of polyantology.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
What would oh is that what Ross was on Friends
a paleontologist exactly?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Yeah, I know it's funny.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
I know dozens of paleontologists in New York City. Really
interesting choice of careers for Ross.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Yeah, the street, you can't you can't go down the
street without bumping into another Paleand.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Once again, I have a very clear point of view
on pop culture from the mid nineteen nineties, So it's perfect, perfect,
all right.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
There are several countries that you could take over and rename.
This is the one that's in the Himalayas.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Nay Paul exactly, name.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Paul capital of Katmandu. This is the country that's in Europe. Yeah, yeah,
it becomes Poland.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
And one of the cultural exports of Pauland, of course,
is the accordion based musical style that weird Al Yankovic
grew up with, the Paulka Paulka exactly, A little Polka Paulka. Okay, Now,
if you do too much writing, this is the injury
you're going to end up with.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Oh, car Paul tunnelsyn.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
Carpo exactly, I've got a whole future of just it's
all about you. Apparently when Bill Maher, when Bill Maher
retires and you take over his show, this will be.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
The new title.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Oh, that show will be paulically incorrect, Yes, politically incorrect.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Politically incorrect, and maybe that'll happen. That's a I could imagine.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I'd watch it.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I would watch it, Yes, sure, i'd be I'd be
honored to. You can step into those well worn shoes,
right all right.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
When you take selfies, you prefer to use this old
style camera that spits out the photos on self developing.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Film, a hooloid polaroid exactly, speaking of the nineteen nineties.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Actually it's older than that, that's what seventies.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Yeah, yeah, Although do your kids have polaroids?
Speaker 3 (08:59):
Are they into polar They.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
Had, they had some kind of They've gone through about
a dozen cameras each in their life, and they had
one at one point that that spit out.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
A polarid, a polaroid like photo.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
They didn't like that they couldn't edit it and share
it on you know, right snapchat.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
So what good is this?
Speaker 3 (09:28):
All right, A couple more of these, if you had
white fur and eight fish and lived in the Arctic.
You would be this.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
A Viking, I would be divorce, a pescatarian Viking.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
I would be a polar beard.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Exactly, very good. This is the large hill in Athens
with ancient buildings all dedicated to.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
You, the acropolis.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Yes, exactly, exactly, nice, exactly. And if you were a
short guy on a horse who became Emperor of France, you.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Would be no Pallia Napoleon.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yes, although I just wanted for Napoleon fans out there,
that is probably a myth.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
That he was short.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
That was apparently propaganda from the British. Uh, but it
is still debated.
Speaker 2 (10:29):
That was effective propaganda.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Man that I know, he's got a complex named after him.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
All Right, A couple more here. This is the European
law enforcement agency that you run.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Oh uh all Star.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
No, No, that Paul is at the end of it.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Actually, oh, Metro Paul.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Uh bigger than that. This is This shows up in
like old you know spy movie.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Well, who puts out red notices?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Bill Browder was on my show, yes, and he wrote
a book called Red Notice, which is probably the most
wonderful book that I've in the past decade.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
With the exception of the three uh A books in
that time, the five books I've read. You are correct.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
This is who put pulls out the red notices.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Interesting.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna admit, I'm gonna I'm gonna
claim ignorance on this.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Its long name is the International Criminal Police Organization.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Inter What is metro paul? That's something else interpol.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
Okay, yeah, metropol is like a bar in France or something.
It's going to go to the metrocs.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
People still do that, and I never mind.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
It's okay, it's a podcast. No one could see what
you did, was raising?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
All right?
Speaker 3 (11:57):
The last one your birthstone if you had been born
in October, oh boy, which of course we would rename
Ollinger Tober. But in the meantime, wither Tober birthstone form?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
What with the birth aquamarine? Uh roop. It's a four
letter word.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Originally, I know it because it shows up across where
it's a lot. That's how I know it.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Does he an opal is iridescent? What does irides mean?
I know it's got the the flakes in it or whatever.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
Irides I think it has multiple colors, that is what
I remember. Yeah, it's it's a little rainbow color.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
That's surely you were going to ask me. The Cambodian dictator.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
Paul Pott, Well, we didn't want to insult you, but
you can insult yourself, I called.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Him, speaking theoretically.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yeah, well, Paul or Poul, you did wonderfully, as thank
you expected before we let you go. In our book
that Greg and I put out called The Puzzler, I
talk about how I see comedy as sort of a puzzle.
Like you say a joke and it takes a second
(13:28):
to solve the joke, and that's where the humor comes from.
Do you see any linkage?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
I think so.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I think you know a lot of times when you
write ideas down, they're kind of like pieces of a
of a jigsaw puzzle, and you might not know where
that piece goes. You just know that it's it's something
about how your brain works, and it might be years
until you find its place in a joke or not.
(13:57):
And and you can look at the hundreds of pages
of notes that I've made over the years as a
big box of random jigsaw pieces. Oh yeah, that you're
just waiting to find where they fit and how it
all comes together.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And so yeah, I see the connection very logically.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
I also think it's interesting when I'm not a stand
up comic, but I've talked to comics and the puzzle
of why you do the exact same set a hundred
times you get huge laughs and then one time it
is silence. So is what is going on with the bombing?
Why does it happen?
Speaker 2 (14:39):
What is going on with the bombing? I need to know.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Every comedy show is a living breathing thing. Although I've
done some dead shows too, but you know, it is
a living, breathing combination of what am I infinite number
of variables that will never be repeated, the unique combination
(15:07):
of the people in the room, the temperature in the room,
the crackling on the microphone, the siren that goes that
goes down the street that you can hear in the room,
all these factors, what happened that day in the news,
All those factors will never be repeated again, and so
(15:31):
and so there are potentially an infinite number of directions
that a comedy routine or show can go. And I
think that's what's interesting about, you know, crowd work. I
don't do a lot of crowd work, and I sort
of don't think that the crowd work trend on social
media is necessarily positive for comedy as a whole. But
(15:56):
when you do crowd work, that interaction with these people
can never be repeated, and so it makes for a unique,
non duplicatable experience that people either experienced or they didn't experience.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Well, I love it, very interesting, and I will say
I believe then this all of the variables on this
podcast lined up because you were a delightful guest and
we were more than reasonably happy to have you. So
thank you, Paul.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
It's my pleasure. I'm honored to be a part of it.
I appreciate being here.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Oh I'm Greg. I almost forgot. Do you have an
extra credit for the folks at home?
Speaker 4 (16:38):
I do?
Speaker 3 (16:38):
I have.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I actually have two extra credits.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I'm going to do right. The first one is the
same puzzle we just did with Paul, which is if
Paul had the made up title REGNEO Ollinger, that's our
e G N I L L O Ollinger, that would
be this. That's the clue for those and is an
(17:01):
example of this. And I have an extra credit based
upon the opening puzzle you use. I realize this is
an element. This is an element that is not used
in making your mobile device, but it is something that
comes out of it when you anagram it. Oh, okay,
element that is not actually used in making it or
(17:23):
not in the composition of it.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
It might be used in.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
The process of making it, but it becomes something that
comes out of it.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
All right, I don't know the answer. I might have
to use my iPhone to try to figure it out.
But in the meantime, join us tomorrow for the answer,
and of course we'll be here tomorrow for more puzzling
puzzles that will puzzle you sudglingly.
Speaker 5 (17:51):
Hey, puzzlers, it's Greg pliska GP, your Chief Puzzle Officer
CPO up from the Puzzle Lab pl with the extra
credit answer from our last episode l E. We played
a PO game with Paul Ollinger where every answer is
a famous person's two initials clude in our typical fashion
(18:12):
with the name and then the two initials. So example,
we had the Paul Olinger.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
PO or post office.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
And here's your extra credit clue.
Speaker 5 (18:20):
This is the Jetta j E T t A owned
by Serena's sister, Serena's tennis playing sister, and that of
course is Venus Williams, is VW VW for Venus Williams
and of course for Volkswagen.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Thanks for playing with us, whatever you're driving, and we
look forward to playing more puzzles with you next time.
Hosts And Creators
Greg Pliska
A.J. Jacobs
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